Reply #2: ok ... but ...

[welshTerrier2]

the licensing idea is a good one ... i'm not exactly sure how the process would work but there used to be a time, at least with the broadcast networks, that the network itself had to be acting in the public interest ... probably something of a rubber stamp but it's a start ... this still doesn't address the cable clowns or print media ...

the campaign finance stuff, while a critical issue, may not be responsive to the question i was raising ... i couldn't agree more that big money is killing our democratic institutions ... but the question really dealt more with the profit motives of news departments than any political or ideological problems we see in our mass media ... to be sure, news or what passes for news, is politically biased ... but what i'm asking is: can we really expect a commercially motivated organization to choose high quality, sometimes dry, important information over sexed up, graphically oriented, sensationalized news ??

the national news couldn't get enough of OJ or Michael Jackson or that Peterson guy ... been hearing any newscasts lately about the influence of lobbyists on foresting legislation? heard any recent newscasts on global warming and the impact of hybrid vehicles? how about the increasing influence of corporations in our electoral process? and local news picks up the crumbs with fires, crimes and how the local sports teams fared ...

perhaps the problem isn't profit motive at all but a viewership that produces more revenues for dumbed down TV ... all i know is something better change if we want to keep our democracy ...